Today we left Oamaru, heading south with no real plan and no time restraints – living the dream. We’ve spent the past two weeks with my family and it has been so great relaxing and catching up. But, the real adventures began today! We got out of town and made it to Hampden (not more than 30kms) before I realised I had left my wallet behind! Good start haha. 
After that little setback we were on the road again. We stopped in Dunedin and enjoyed the sites there. The public botanic gardens were a highlight. 

After exploring Dunedin we drove along the coast, through Brighton, down to Taieri Mouth. The coast line is quite spectacular, with nice sandy beaches, native plants, and rolling hills. 

It’s our first night sleeping in our van, aka ‘Patchy’ (named after the terrible primer patches on the side!). We’ve decked Patchy out with curtains and a double bed, and have been lucky enough to borrow a whole heap of cooking and camping equipment from my family (thanks whanau!) 

It’s quite cold and has started raining so off to bed for us – wish us luck! 

Sweet dreams. 

M & S.